£60m biomass plant gets go ahead

£60m biomass plant gets go ahead

E.ON has been given the green light to build a £60m renewable energy plant on the site of a former coal-fired power station.

The new power station, which will be rated at about 25MW, will produce enough power for approximately 40,000 homes by burning recycled wood.

Construction is expected to start next year at the Blackburn Meadows site, in Sheffield, and the company hopes the plant will be operating by 2011.

It will be built on the former site of a power station, which was demolished in the 1980s.

E.ON chiefs said the plant will displace the emissions of about 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - the equivalent of taking more than 20,000 cars off the UK's roads each year.

Dave Rogers, E.ON's regional director for climate and renewables, said: "We're delighted that Sheffield City Council has given us the green light to develop this project.

"Biomass power stations offer us an exciting opportunity to help combat climate change by using 'carbon neutral' products in the place of traditional fossil fuels to generate electricity - further proof of our commitment to changing energy in the UK."

E.ON already operates a biomass power station in Steven's Croft, near Lockerbie in Scotland.

It plans to spend £1bn on new renewables over the next five years, including onshore and offshore wind, biomass, and wave and tidal power.

E.ON has set a target to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity it generates by 10% between 2005 and 2012.